The Natural Selection Presents The Natural Selection
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- Wetenschap
Welcome to the Natural Selection—we're a group of taxonomists who want to bring their passion for nature into the wild.
Join us as we discuss the latest discoveries in the natural world and bring an irreverent eye to what we've learned about Earth's diverse life that week.
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Episode 74 - Goodbyes
This week the Natural selection say goodbye.. at least for now. In this our final episode, we touched on some of our favourite topics or subjects that we haven’t discussed in previous episodes. We learned about some extinct species and some species that have reappeared after being thought extinct. We got meta and investigated the world of memes both in humans and other animals. We also tested our knowledge with not one but two quizzes this week! Listen now to see if you can answer some questions related to our past episodes.
And Finally from everyone here at the Natural Selection, we would like to say a huge thank you to anyone who has listened to any of our episodes or shared our podcast with someone. To anyone who has gotten in contact with us, thank you it means so much to know people are enjoying what we do. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Thanks for listening and goodbye for now.
animals and subjects discussed in this episode include:
lesser spectral tarsier (Tarsius pumilus), also known as the mountain tarsier or the pygmy tarsier
Dusky Flying Fox (Pteropus brunneus)
Père David's deer (Elaphurus davidianus)
Megalodon (Otodus megalodon)
Simeulue hill mynas (Gracula religiosa miotera)
tree lobster (Dryococelus australis) commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect
memes
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás
Chelicerata, Myriapoda, Pancrustacea/ Crustaceans & Hexapods
Thrips (order Thysanoptera)
Coleoptera - beetles
Lepidoptera butterflies
Hemiptera – true bugs
Hymenoptera – wasps bees and ants
Diapause
Rodents, mustelids, armadillos, marsupials, roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
Quiz
Episode 9: parasites Ophiocordyceps unilateralis –fungus that makes ants into zombies –
Episode 13: metamorphosis
Episode 14: myths Animal paradoxa -
Including Antelope, Pelicans, Deathwatch beetle (make a ticking noise associated with impending death), Barnacle goose (believed to grow from rotten wood thrown out to sea) and shrinking frog or paradoxical frog (Pseudis paradoxa) as well as dragons, hydras, Borometz (plant like a sheep - might be cotton, such as in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville)
Episode 19: brains dung beetles use the milky way to navigate
Episode 28: fossils – coprolite- Fossil poo
brontosaurus
Ep 33: blood - Ocellated ice fish
- Horseshoe crab
Ep 67: blue - the mandarinfish (Synchiropus splendidus)
Blue poison dart
Ep 29: beetles – luciferin is a group of light emitting compounds that make fireflies and other bioluminescent animals glow
Ep 36: DNA - marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) -
Episode 73 - Extinctions
The Natural Selection is back! This week we talk all about why The Ordovician blew a little hot and cold, why the great dying was great news for us, and which pigeon once blocked out the sun.
In this episode we talk about:
Common Sydney octopuses (Octopus tetricus)
jacobin hummingbirds (Florisuga mellivora)
Titanoboa (Titanoboa cerrejonensis)
Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) -
Episode 71 - Beaks
The Natural Selection is back, and this week we are talking all about beaks! Listen now and learn why you shouldn't squeeze pliers with jelly in your hands, how to calm down a goose, and which bird is better than a speeding train.
In This episode we talk about:
Flesh Flies - Sarcophaga similis
Avocets - Pied Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta
Oviraptors - Oviraptor philoceratops
Sauropods
Kingfishers
Cephalopods - Giant Squids, Colosal squids, Humboldt's Squid, Blue Ringed Octopus.
Geese - Anatidae, Anseriformes and the fossil Presbyornis -
Bonus Clip!
So, we had a technical malfunction this week with the recording, but our episode all about beaks will be back next week!
Until then, please enjoy this special out-take from a previous episode. -
Episode 71 - Butterflies
Join us as this week The Natural Selection Presents... Butterflies! (and moths). In this episode, we learned all about some beautiful butterflies and marvelous moths. We explored coevolution with flowers, dazzling displays, and some butterflies brought back from the brink of extinction. Listen now to find out more.
Thanks for listening and please like and share if you enjoyed this episode.
Species mentioned in this episode are listed below.
Mallards
Fruit flies
Anole lizards – lizards in the genus Anolis
Fixed front fangs -Taipans - snakes in the genus Oxyuranus in the elapid family
Crab eating water snake – (Fordonia leucobalia)
Lepidoptera
Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae)
Painted lady (Vanessa cardui)
Morgan's sphinx moth (Xanthopan morganii)
Large Blue (Phengaris arion)
Red ant (Myrimica sabuleti)
European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Silk worm (Bombyx mori)
Wild silk moth (Bombyx mandarina)
- The butterfly mentioned by Nabakov in the excerpt from Speak, memory Anarta cordigera -
Episode 70 - Grasslands
The Natural Selection returns to talk about Grasslands! Listen now and learn how to name a Gorilla, How high a bison can jump, and where to find a cheetah.
In This Episode We talk about:
News:
Giraffes
Dung Beetles
Microgastrinae Wasps
Theme:
Poaceae/Grasses - Wheat, Rice and Bamboo
Insects of the steppe and prairie - Beetles, ants, mites, springtails, flies and earthworms.
The Great Migration - Blue Wildebeest, Zebra
Grasslands of Iran - Asiatic Cheetah, manul cat, lynx, wolves, common fox, cape hare, goitered gazelle and Latifi's viper.
Sapiens: Homo Sapiens and wheat.